John Robb on The Future of Social Media And Global Change – Episode #77

The future of social media is going to be about more than new or faster ways of sharing the latest stupid cat video or meme. The technology that enables immediate communication via social is the same technology that’s going to impact seemingly unrelated areas like economies, governments, and world-changing movements. On this episode, Anthony takes a deep dive into what the future may hold as it relates to social media with his friend and guest, John Robb. If you’re at all curious about what the technologies already being used in social media might mean for business, governments, and more, this episode is a peek through the keyhole of possibility that you will enjoy.

Donald Trump has demonstrated social media’s future.

The 2016 election cycle has been one of the most hotly contested in recent history and it’s no accident that social media was a powerful tool in making it happen. When an outsider like Donald Trump is able to disrupt the established political machine of a long time political party (Republican), you know something new is going on. How did he do it? Through social media. On this episode, Anthony and his guest, John Robb chat about the strategies Trump used to get around the media gatekeepers and tap into public sentiment, broadcast a message outside the media’s control, and change the direction of the election. The result is what we see before us – a Presidential candidate for a major party who’s entirely from the outside.

A future where social technology integrates with Artificial Intelligence.

John Robb believes that social media’s future will be broader than reconnecting with high school friends and sharing your latest vacation pictures. The same technologies that make it so easy and effective to do those simple things can and will be integrated with artificial intelligence to create some seriously world-changing technologies. We’re not talking about the “rise of the machines” here, we’re talking about tools that enhance the way humans interact – to the degree that it makes possible the rapid deployments of armies, fundamental changes to governments, and reorientations of economies. Sound strange or even scary to you? You’ve got to listen to this episode to hear how realistic these predictions are.

Could a democratic form of government be shaped or even run by social media in the future?

If you look carefully at what’s happening all around the globe you’ll begin to notice that there is no major conflict that is NOT using social media in some way. Social is now a tool, a weapon used to coordinate movements, transmit messages, and influence public opinion on a mass scale. Is it possible that these forays into the use of social media for political means are just the beginning? Could there be a marriage between social and artificial intelligence that makes those uses not only more effective but actually changes the fundamental nature of something as foundational as Democracy? John Robb believes that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Find out how he sees the future and social technology’s role in it, on this episode.

The future of social media can be seen through harbingers happening today.

There are many futurist predictions that never come true. John Robb says that’s often the case because self-proclaimed futurists posit a theory and then extrapolate what might happen based on that theory. The problem is that the theory itself is not firmly grounded in things that are already happening. John takes a different approach. He never makes a prediction unless he already sees at least an incipient form of a thing happening in multiple places across the globe. That foundational tie to the reality of what’s truly happening in the world makes the extrapolation of the idea much more grounded and realistic. This conversation ranges far and wide but it’s an important one for anyone who’s interested in where the world is going and how it will affect business, economies, and the future of mankind.

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